The development around Union Station is a step above what we're seeing in Minneapolis, and the renovation of the depot itself is just drop dead gorgeous.

As far as why they're building differently, I'm quite certain that it's all economics -- land costs are higher, and rents are higher, thereby allowing you to do more expensive buildings. There shouldn't be anything different code-wise.

The International Building Code is broadly (but not universally) adopted in the United States. It gets updated every three years, but there's typically a lag in adoption. For example, the state of Minnesota is running on the 2012 version of the code. Local jurisdictions can and do amend the code.

His whole schtick is shaming people who weren't able to follow his improbable career path. The man made something like $300k annually for 10 years, then "retired" and parlayed his moderate frugality into a highly successful blog/personality cult (his own words) that earned him 6 figures.

The idea that the only thing holding all of humanity back from retiring at 30 is that some people own pets and cars is... ridiculous. (And I own neither a car nor a pet.)

But he has even admitted that he could not afford his current lifestyle without the income coming from his website, so he isn't really financially independent in any way that someone else could replicate.

He seems to have some good advice for those lucky enough to be in a position to make use of it. And he was lucky to have had the opportunities to do the things he did.

That being said, if you're not paying a mortgage/rent, student loans, child care, and car payments, then yeah, everything else is pretty simple if you're careful (assuming you have health insurance through your employer). It's really not this tough, masochistic thing he makes it out to be and for which he wants all this credit.